2018 - Hike 16 - April 27th - Whetstone Gulf State Park (NY)
Whetstone Gulf State Park
North and South trails (as guided by 50 hikes in Central NY)
Posted by Chris 4/28/18
Basics:
Length - ~ 5 miles
Elevation gain - Estimated at 600 feet
Nearest city - Lowville, NY
Difficulty - Challenging due to conditions
The day:
We are on a quick road trip to Ottawa. After an overnight visit in Syracuse (with a memorably delicious meal at Daniella's Steakhouse) we squeezed in what turned out to be a VERY difficult hike on the way North. We got out of Syracuse fairly early and the trip to Whetstone was a very soothing quiet mix of lightly traveled I-81 North and NY-177 East and NY-12 South. We saw the most gargantuan sprawling wind power site either of us had ever seen near Lowville. It went on for miles and miles in almost every direction. It was amazing. We were also (in a different sense of the word) amazed by how there was still some snow on the ground as we got East of I-81. At times there were considerable little piles of snow and then for a few miles there would be none. We really hoped our destination would be out of the snow zone.
When we arrived at the park we were the only car there and we didn't see evidence that anybody came or went the entire time we were there. Certainly we didn't cross paths with anybody on the trail. The book said it didn't really matter which side of the gulf you hiked first but as written and as we followed the guide, we ended up on the South trail first.
One thing became clear very early... This south trail at least had a lot of snow. We're talking 2 or more feet of snow in places, 6-8 inches in a majority of places and some occasional spots that were dry or muddy but not snowy. It also went up up up, gaining at least 2/3 of the gain in the first mile. 600 feet of elevation gain doesn't sound like a lot but in the snow, mostly in the first mile, etc... It felt like a ton. Brian in particular wasn't excited about this hike once we started it both because the snow made for difficult and sometimes wet sloppy hiking but also because there were many signs along the trail warning about hiking at your own risk and the dangers of falling off the edge of the gulf etc. Both because it was described as such a cool hike and because we'd already invested considerable time getting to it, I was determined to hike the darn thing unless and until there was a clear and present hazard that seemed totally unreasonable. So after some back and forth we trudged on. It was a long and difficult slog. At times we were able to walk on top of the mostly hard packed snow for maybe a dozen steps but at other times every other step seemed to result in our boots punching through to the middle of our calves. Once we finished the climbing we were more or less along the South edge of the Gulf and had some longer periods of less difficult walking but the snow returned over and over. Sometimes the snowy sections and the narrow sections coincided but nothing we came upon got my adrenaline going too much other than the accumulating sense that we might be doing all 5 miles in bad conditions or worse yet, still run into something we couldn't get through and have to retrace our steps.
So the hike wasn't easy but at least it didn't fail to deliver on its promises of views. This is a dramatic steep sided little canyon with (especially during snow melt) an impressively raucous river going through it. The gulf widened and narrowed at various points but it remained dramatic and fascinating almost the entire way. The last mile of the South trail (before crossing over the creek on a bridge) was exceptionally difficult with some of the deepest snows and another steep area. Thankfully there were some interesting views of water cascading down the other side of the gulf to compensate somewhat. Finally we crossed over the seriously ice and snow rutted road bridge at one end of the golf and started down the North trail. The North trail was 90% snow free. It wasn't even muddy in very many places. Had it not been for one un-bridged (or buried in snow bridge) creek crossing it would have gone relatively easily all the way back to our car but unfortunately there was that one creek. After scoping the creek bed looking for a secure crossing for a few hundred feet to either side of the official blazed trail crossing, I picked what seemed like a sturdy section of packed snow and gave it a few test tape with my feet and then went out onto it. There was a color change in the packed snow that told me that the far side of the creek wasn't as solid so I inched as far forward as I could on the hard stuff then just made one large and heavy step onto the less sturdy looking snow and bounced up onto the far side of the creek. The less sturdy looking snow was indeed not sturdy and a large (15 foot by 2 foort wide?) section collapsed as I bounced off of it. So my crossing was nerve wracking but ultimately ok. Brian was not able to follow in my path and had to find his own crossing. Unfortunately the part snow part log area he stepped on gave way and one food went into the icy creek for a few seconds. His shoes and feet were already wet but this was another level of crummy so he was even more ready to get this hike over with. After the creek crossing we made great time and stopped only briefly a few times for photos. By the time we got back to the car we were feeling surprisingly decent and enjoyed getting our wet boots off etc.
This was an amazing adventure hike and delivered a lot of scenery, solitude and exercise. It wasn't fun or light and breezy in feeling but it was interesting.
Pics are from both of us.
Difficulty - Challenging due to conditions
The day:
We are on a quick road trip to Ottawa. After an overnight visit in Syracuse (with a memorably delicious meal at Daniella's Steakhouse) we squeezed in what turned out to be a VERY difficult hike on the way North. We got out of Syracuse fairly early and the trip to Whetstone was a very soothing quiet mix of lightly traveled I-81 North and NY-177 East and NY-12 South. We saw the most gargantuan sprawling wind power site either of us had ever seen near Lowville. It went on for miles and miles in almost every direction. It was amazing. We were also (in a different sense of the word) amazed by how there was still some snow on the ground as we got East of I-81. At times there were considerable little piles of snow and then for a few miles there would be none. We really hoped our destination would be out of the snow zone.
When we arrived at the park we were the only car there and we didn't see evidence that anybody came or went the entire time we were there. Certainly we didn't cross paths with anybody on the trail. The book said it didn't really matter which side of the gulf you hiked first but as written and as we followed the guide, we ended up on the South trail first.
One thing became clear very early... This south trail at least had a lot of snow. We're talking 2 or more feet of snow in places, 6-8 inches in a majority of places and some occasional spots that were dry or muddy but not snowy. It also went up up up, gaining at least 2/3 of the gain in the first mile. 600 feet of elevation gain doesn't sound like a lot but in the snow, mostly in the first mile, etc... It felt like a ton. Brian in particular wasn't excited about this hike once we started it both because the snow made for difficult and sometimes wet sloppy hiking but also because there were many signs along the trail warning about hiking at your own risk and the dangers of falling off the edge of the gulf etc. Both because it was described as such a cool hike and because we'd already invested considerable time getting to it, I was determined to hike the darn thing unless and until there was a clear and present hazard that seemed totally unreasonable. So after some back and forth we trudged on. It was a long and difficult slog. At times we were able to walk on top of the mostly hard packed snow for maybe a dozen steps but at other times every other step seemed to result in our boots punching through to the middle of our calves. Once we finished the climbing we were more or less along the South edge of the Gulf and had some longer periods of less difficult walking but the snow returned over and over. Sometimes the snowy sections and the narrow sections coincided but nothing we came upon got my adrenaline going too much other than the accumulating sense that we might be doing all 5 miles in bad conditions or worse yet, still run into something we couldn't get through and have to retrace our steps.
So the hike wasn't easy but at least it didn't fail to deliver on its promises of views. This is a dramatic steep sided little canyon with (especially during snow melt) an impressively raucous river going through it. The gulf widened and narrowed at various points but it remained dramatic and fascinating almost the entire way. The last mile of the South trail (before crossing over the creek on a bridge) was exceptionally difficult with some of the deepest snows and another steep area. Thankfully there were some interesting views of water cascading down the other side of the gulf to compensate somewhat. Finally we crossed over the seriously ice and snow rutted road bridge at one end of the golf and started down the North trail. The North trail was 90% snow free. It wasn't even muddy in very many places. Had it not been for one un-bridged (or buried in snow bridge) creek crossing it would have gone relatively easily all the way back to our car but unfortunately there was that one creek. After scoping the creek bed looking for a secure crossing for a few hundred feet to either side of the official blazed trail crossing, I picked what seemed like a sturdy section of packed snow and gave it a few test tape with my feet and then went out onto it. There was a color change in the packed snow that told me that the far side of the creek wasn't as solid so I inched as far forward as I could on the hard stuff then just made one large and heavy step onto the less sturdy looking snow and bounced up onto the far side of the creek. The less sturdy looking snow was indeed not sturdy and a large (15 foot by 2 foort wide?) section collapsed as I bounced off of it. So my crossing was nerve wracking but ultimately ok. Brian was not able to follow in my path and had to find his own crossing. Unfortunately the part snow part log area he stepped on gave way and one food went into the icy creek for a few seconds. His shoes and feet were already wet but this was another level of crummy so he was even more ready to get this hike over with. After the creek crossing we made great time and stopped only briefly a few times for photos. By the time we got back to the car we were feeling surprisingly decent and enjoyed getting our wet boots off etc.
This was an amazing adventure hike and delivered a lot of scenery, solitude and exercise. It wasn't fun or light and breezy in feeling but it was interesting.
Pics are from both of us.
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